Regular commentator of the same weekly, Marinko Culic, looks at the political connotations of the delivery of the "Vitez Ten" , headed by Dario Kordic to the Hague Tribunal in the October 13, 1997 issue of "Feral Tribune".Only a day after "The Ten" from Vitez were sent to the Hague Tribunal, the first court session was held in the case against Dobroslav Paraga, and then immediately after that the one against Ivan Zvonimir Cicak, with charges of "spreading false information" that Tudjman was involved in the division of Bosnia. This is not the only coincidence, since the decision of giving up The Ten Tudjman took in the first days of October, and it was exactly then, we hear, that the subpoena's came to the two mentioned for their cases in the Regional Court in Zagreb.
So, the association could not simply be evaded bout the two parallel judiciary processes, one international, and one national, where latter seems to play the role of an amulet against the bad news from the Hague. There, during the protracted Blaskic trial, more or less the whole story of the Croatian engagement in the BiH war has been reconstructed (particularly after it was found out that the book of general Bobetko is being speedily translated). But, with the arrival of Kordic, a step further will be taken, leading towards the uncovering of the political dimension of this engagement (even though., like the others, he is being tried as a wayward soldier).
After all, he is the first accused in the Hague who can be called a politician, and not just of any rank. He was the President of the BiH HDZ, and it will be most interesting for the Hague judges that he got this position in 1994, meaning right after the Croat - Bosniak war. From this, it is easy to conclude that during the preparation and execution of this war, Kordic proved himself as the most trusted soldier of his party and its Zagreb main office.
The point is that there could be even ten facts proving that Croatian Army engaged itself in BiH, and that all of them would not throw enough light as one that this was done with the goal of dividing this country. That is why it is no surprise that Kordic and his buddies were sent off from Split with a lot of delicate attention, almost like important officials, with a pathetic message that in the Hague they will not only defend their honor, but also the honor of the whole Croatian population of Central Bosnia.
It is easy to conclude form this that the tactics of their defence will be more directed towards loud and defiant "patriotism" than in the Blaskic case, since it will not start from individual responsibility, as is done by Nobilo, but from national, that is, all - Croatian. But, the delivery of the Vitez men, at the same time, has drawn the Croatian state top in the spiral of responsibility.
Source: Split weekly "Feral Tribune" , October 13, 1997
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